St Neots author pens book on his battle with depression

Twenty-year-old Matthew Clifton is hoping to help people whose life is blighted by depression with his new book that tells the tale of his battle with the debilitating illness.

The business management student of St Neots Road, Abbotsley, is hoping to secure a publishing deal but needs to collect 250 pre-orders of his confessional book, Teenage Depression Versus Me.

Matthew said he aims to shine a spotlight on mental illness and combat the stigma which patients often experience.

“Having mental health problems – in particular depression and anxiety – made life very challenging for me when I was first diagnosed,” he said. “I didn’t want to accept it and the people around me didn’t either. Eventually though, I did learn to live with it and it is a little easier now.”

The book has been an ongoing process over the past four years, drawing on the daily notes Matthew took to help him cope with his problems.

He added: “I didn’t want to share everything about me in it, so drawing a line and knowing when to stop was hard. It’s all about understanding and supporting sufferers and not letting them go it alone.”